Pro-religious Law Attitude Growing Along West Bank

November 15, 1985|By John Ames, United Press International

KIRYAT ARBA, ISRAELI-OCCUPIED WEST BANK — Throughout modern-day Israel there is growing anti-democratic sentiment toward the nation`s Arab population -- particularly on the West Bank, and among young Jews.

It is documented in surveys and spoken bluntly in public parks. The chief proponent of anti-Arab thought has been elected to the Knesset -- and here, on the West Bank, some say it is intrinsic to doing business with Arabs. In many cases, violence is seen as a tit-for-tat response to terrorism.

There are those who fear that if racism, especially among younger Israelis, goes unchecked, it could one day be intrinsic to being a Jew in Israel.

One study shows that many West Bank settlers are more committed to religious law than democracy, and there have been charges that much of the land obtained by settlers was obtained by swindling Arabs.

In addition, some of the settlement movement`s finest young men were found to have waged a four-year anti-Arab reign of terror.

In recent months Jewish blood has flowed again with the deaths of five Israelis, most likely at the hands of Arabs, in separate attacks on the West Bank. In response, two Arab houses have been vandalized in Hebron, and settlers in Ramallah and Nablus sent out their own armed patrols in response to the stabbings of three Israelis.

The most visible leader of the militant trend is New York-born Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was elected to a seat in the 120-member parliament on the promise that he would oust all Arabs from Israel and the occupied territories. There are allegations that some settlers on the West Bank have taken the pledge one step further -- hoping to see the Arabs go with as little money as possible.

``Most of the land deals in the area are rooted in forgery, deceit, pressures and threats,`` complains another Knesset member, Yossi Sarid.

Sarid has disclosed a 1983 state comptroller`s report showing that most of the land obtained by Jews on the West Bank was obtained irregularly.

``All this high-flown talk of `redeeming the land, Zionism and pioneering` serves as a cover for corruption and cheating,`` he said.

Said the respected Ha`aretz newspaper: ``The lands deal episode is another, almost inevitable aspect of the moral decline that has set in as a result of the continued rule in the territories.``

Retorted Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir: ``It`s not so simple, buying land from Arabs. There is terrorism, there are threats, there are even murders on this backdrop, and at times this (acquisition of land) must be accomplished via strategems.``

Daniella Weiss, secretary-general of the Gush Emunim settlement movement, condemned the actions of 27 people accused of crimes against Arabs but added that they were ``some of the most prominent figures of our movement . . . to some extent, symbols.``

They were convicted of the 1980 maiming of two West Bank mayors, the 1983 killing of three students and wounding of 33 others at Islamic College in Hebron, and the 1984 attempt to plant bombs on five Arab buses.

Settlers say the defendants took the law into their own hands because the government had not provided adequate security. They say their vigilantism led to a drastic reduction in Arab terrorism.

The attitude of hate is hardly restricted to settlers on the West Bank. A survey by Van Leer Research Institute in Jerusalem found that 25 percent of Israeli Jewish teen-agers are what it described as ``consistently anti- democratic`` and ``racist`` in their views toward Arabs.

It said 40 percent of Israeli teens favored granting civil rights to Arabs as a reward for complying with Israeli law, and restricting the rights of those who do not. It said 50 percent hold anti-democratic views when talking specifically about relations with Arabs.

A survey of youths in a Jerusalem park mirrored the institute findings.

``I hate Arabs and it angers me that in this country there are Arabs, Arabs, Arabs,`` said a 15-year-old girl named Ravit.

Michael dismisses any suggestion that the West Bank be returned to the Arabs. ``We won it in the war. That`s fair,`` he says, referring to the 1967 Six-Day War in which Israel rolled over the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Alouph Hareven, the Van Leer institute`s coordinator of educational projects, attributes the animosity to the mixed message Israeli youth receives from the government.

``The youths now being drafted into the Israeli Defense Force were born and raised with a double message,`` Hareven said.

``On the one hand, democracy for the 4.5 million citizens. On the other hand, a military administration which by its very nature is undemocratic and which controls 1.25 million Arabs in the territories.``

Hareven blames Arab terrorism and lack of democratic education in Israel schools for the hardening of attitudes.